Listen Live:  B101 101.5 FM - Steve McDonald / Don Kaull
The Beltone Hearing Aid Centers Rams Radio Network

Internet: iHeart.com (audio) | goduquesne.com (video)

Gamenotes: Rhode Island/Duquesne (pdf)

Follow the Rams on Twitter @RhodyMBB

RHODE ISLAND VERSUS DUQUESNE

• Rhode Island leads the all-time series, 28-24, which began in the 1965-66 season.    
• Last season, Rhode Island dropped a 78-71 decision at home versus the Dukes on January 14, 2012.
• The last six meetings between the two schools have been decided by an average of 6.0 points.
• Rhody is 11-12 all-time versus Duquesne on the road and has won five straight at the Palumbo Center.
• Dan Hurley has never faced Duquesne as a head coach, but has matched up against Dukes' head coach Jim Ferry on four occasions when the two coached in the Northeast Conference.

RHODE ISLAND IN THE ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE
Since its inaugural season in the conference during the 1980-81 season, Rhode Island has posted a 234-288 all-time record in Atlantic 10 play.  
The Rams earned their first conference victory of the 2012-13 season at Saint Louis on Jan. 19 - an 82-80 overtime win.
Last season, Rhody finished with a 4-12 mark in conference play, putting them in 13th place in the league standings.
On Jan. 18, 2012 - at Fordham - Rhode Island played its 500th Atlantic 10 game all-time.

LAST TIME OUT - RHODE ISLAND 75, DAYTON 72 - FEBRUARY 13

• Xavier Munford knocked down a contested 3-pointer with 3.3 seconds remaining to lift Rhode Island to victory.
• Rhody led by as many as eight (52-44, 12:52) after an Alwayne Bigby layup, but Dayton tied the game at 72-72 with :09 seconds left.
• The Rams strong ball movement set up its scoring chances all night, tallying a season-best 19 assists
• Nikola Malesevic had one of his finest performances as a Ram, recording his second career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. He added a team-high and career-best seven assists to go with three steals and two blocked shots.
• Munford started out just 1-for-7 from the floor, but connected on five of his final seven field goal attempts - including the gamewinner - to finish with a game-high 18 points.
• Mike Aaman scored 11 points in 18 minutes while Mike Powell also reached double-digits in the scoring column (10).
• Powell was 2-of-4 from beyond the arc and 2-of-2 from the foul line to go along with five assists, five rebounds and one steal.
• Jordan Hare made his presence felt in the paint, scoring eight points, grabbing seven boards and blocking three shots in 16 minutes.
• The Rams had nine blocks as a team, with Hare (3), Munford (3), Malesevic (2) and T.J. Buchanan (1) all getting into the act.
• Rhode Island was 10-for-22 from beyond the arc, marking the fourth time this season it has made at least 10 in a game.

AAMAN, HARE COMBINE TO CONTRIBUTE TO DAYTON VICTORY

• Freshmen post players Mike Aaman and Jordan Hare combined for 19 points, eight rebounds, three blocked shots and 36 minutes of play in Rhody's 75-72 win over Dayton on Feb. 13.
• Hare earned the start and registered eight points (4-7 FG), seven boards, and three blocks.
• Aaman played 18 minutes off the bench, connecting on 4-of-6 from the floor and 3-of-3 from the line - good for 11 points.
• Aaman's traditional three-point play at the 4:25 mark gave the Rams a 65-59 lead.

TODAY'S RHODE ISLAND BASKETBALL FACT(S) YOU CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT

• Today's Theme: Rhody's Record When... & Team Percentages
• This season, Rhody is 4-0 in games which they have connected on 10 or more 3-pointers.
• When Rhode Island has an assist percentage (assists/total FG) better than 60.0%, they are 4-2.
• The Rams are 3-1 in games in which they score 18 or more points off the bench.
• 527 of the Rams' 1432 points this season have come in the paint - an average of 36.9%.
• According to Ken Pomeroy's statistical analysis, Rhody ranks 55th in the country in defensive block percentage - swatting 12.1% of its opponents field goal attempts.

NEAR TRIPLE-DOUBLE, HISTORY FOR MALESEVIC

• Nikola Malesevic filled out the box score against Dayton on Feb. 13, tallying 13 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, two blocked shots and three assists.
• So far this season, only one other player has registered that stat line or better in a regulation game - Kyle Anderson (UCLA).
• Dating back to the 1996-97 season, he is the ONLY Rhode Island player to put forth that diverse of a stat line.
• The double-double in points and rebounds was Malesevic's second in his career; the seven assists are a new career high.
• Delroy James recorded the program's lone triple-double (22 p/11 r/10 a) against Miami (Ohio) on March 16, 2011.

MUNFORD SECOND IN THE ATLANTIC 10 IN SCORING

• Junior guard Xavier Munford ranks second in the Atlantic 10 in scoring, through games of Feb. 15.
• The Hillside, N.J. native checks in at 17.5 points per game, which also ranks him 63rd nationally.
• He has registered nine of Rhody's top ten scoring performances this season, including a 33-point effort at Auburn.
• He is fourth in scoring in Atlantic 10 games only, checking in at 17.6 points per game.
• Munford has posted nine games with 20 or more points - the most in the Atlantic 10 this season.
• Only one Rhody player - Carlton "Silk" Owens - ever finished the season atop the conference's scoring leaders (21.8 ppg, 1987-88).

CLOSE CALLS

• In Atlantic 10 play, URI has played eight of its nine games in single-digits, with an average scoring margin of 6.7 points.
• Three of the Rams' eight A-10 losses have been by three points or less.  
• URI earned an 82-80 overtime victory at Saint Louis on Jan. 19 and a 75-72 win over Dayton at home on Feb. 13.
• Through its first ten A-10 contests last year, Rhody had lost by an average of 11.2 points per game.

JORDAN HARE:  RANKS AMONG NATION'S BEST IN BLOCKED SHOTS

• Jordan Hare ranks third in the Atlantic 10 and is the eighth-best freshman shot blocker in the country (2.0 bpg).
• He put forth two of the top 10  best shot blocking performances by a frosh in consecutive games, swatting seven shots against Loyola (Md.) and followed that up with six swats against George Mason.
• Hare's seven blocks were the most by a Rhody player since Dec. 13, 1984 (7, Chris Scotti vs. Bryant).
• He also had one of the top rebounding performances this season by a freshman, with 16 against Loyola (Md.).
• He is one of just two players nationally to have a 16 rebound/7 blocked shot performance this season.
• Hare has 39 blocks so far this year - the most by a Rhody freshman since Antonio Reynolds-Dean blocked 59 shots during
• the 1995-96 season.

IMPROVED DEFENSIVE EFFORT IN 2012-13

• A major point of emphasis for head coach Dan Hurley is improving Rhody's defensive effort from last season.
• Last season, Rhody ranked as one of the worst defensive teams in the country.
• URI ranked 321st out of 339 in scoring defense (75.5 points/game), 324th in FG% defense (47.5%), and 230th in 3-point FG% defense (35.5%).
• In 2012-13, the Rams are allowing 9.2 fewer points per game and have lowered their defensive FG% to 42.6% and their 3-point FG% defense mark to 32.3%.
• This season, the Rams have held seven opponents to 60 points or fewer, including a season-low 47 points allowed vs. Brown on Jan. 4.
• URI has allowed 70+ points just five times and 80+ points twice in regulation.
• Last year, Rhody allowed 70+ points 23 times (31 games),  80+ points 11 times, 90+ three times, and 100 once.

TURN AROUND ON TURNOVERS

• The Rams are averaging just 12.6 turnovers per contest - two fewer than last year and ranked 99th nationally.
• A season ago, Rhode Island averaged 14.5 turnovers per game, which ranked 247th nationally.
• The Rams registered a season-low six turnovers against George Mason on Nov. 28.
• That was the lowest TO mark since Rhody committed a program record-low two turns against Nevada (March 22, 2010).
• Last season, Rhode Island had just eight games with 11 or fewer turnovers.

FROM THE STANDPOINT OF SHARING THE BASKETBALL

• Rhody registered a season-high 19 assists against Dayton on Feb. 13.  The Rams' assist percentage was 67.9% (19 assists/28 FG).
• It was the third highest assist percentage of the season.  Against George Mason, the Rams registered a 70.5% (12 a/19 FG) and a 68.0% mark vs. SMU (17 a/25 FG).
• At Saint Louis, URI registered an assist on 63.0% of its made field goals (17 assists/27 field goals).
• Six of Rhody's seven wins have come when the team registers double-digits in the assist column; URI is 1-9 when it does not.